Just One Touch
by espergirl04
Summary: AU. Sometimes it's the things that for anyone else would be considered normal. John/Teyla.
1. Chapter 1

Instead of working on the million and one end of the semester exams, projects, and papers that I should be doing I've decided to write this.

AU. Set pre-anything that has to do with Kanaan where the team gets some down time on Earth.

Disclaimer: I do not own SGA or the characters.

* * *

He had to do a double take. This was the woman who would rush headlong into a firefight, who could beat Ronon at sparring, and who had no problems dealing with screaming masses of terrified civilians all trying to escape one form of disaster or another.

This crowd was full of terrified screams brought on by steep drops and big loops. The only impending doom was the clicking of the rollercoaster cars as they climbed up to drop points and pools of water waiting at the bottom of log flumes. Which was why Rodney had to make absolutely sure that he had really just witnessed Teyla, dressed in jean shorts and shirt, hook her fingers in John's back pocket as they passed through a particularly crowded area.

Then there was Colonel Sheppard, the guy who ordered them into dangerous situations without a second thought. And if he did give it a second thought he definitely didn't let it affect his professionalism seeing as how he sent them into life or death situations all the time. John knew full well what Teyla was capable of, that she could handle herself. And here he was glancing back at Teyla and offering her his hand.

Rodney looked up at Ronon. The Satedan was currently distracted by all the women who were checking him out like he was their teenage dream come to life, even though Rodney was pretty sure some of them were probably old enough to be considered cougars. A swift poke in the side from Rodney caught his attention and he followed the scientist's gaze and grinned.

It looked so _normal_. John and Teyla, hand in hand, like any other couple walking around. So Rodney couldn't help but smile. Nauseating, yes, but considering the only other times he'd seen them holding hands was when one of them had been shot, stabbed, or nearly eaten and were lying in the infirmary, it was a surprisingly nice change.

The scariest thing was probably how _not_ surprised he was a few days later when he walked into the room he was sharing with John to find them sprawled on the bed together. They were still salt encrusted from the beach excursion earlier in the day and the tv was on but they were both asleep. John leaning against the headboard and Teyla lying on her back using John's lap as a pillow. Rodney just shook his head before turning off the tv and grabbing his clothes to shower in the other room.

It was nauseating, yes, but as he passed Ronon on his way to take his shower and the Satedan said, "I took a picture of them with your phone," he realized that not only did he have sickeningly cute evidence but also blackmail material.

* * *

I decided only to post this small snippet because I like the way it ends here, however, I did write more and if anyone is interested let me know in a review and I'll post the second part.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II as requested. And I have one more scene in mind so there will be a Part III.

Disclaimer: I don't own SGA or the characters…

* * *

It took Colonel Sheppard three weeks of being back on Atlantis to realize that there was a poor quality print out of him and Teyla snuggled up to one another that had magically been taped to the outside of his laptop. He didn't even notice it until he was in a meeting with Woolsey and had flipped it open only to be interrupted from going over logistics by the commander of the expedition clearing his throat.

"Colonel Sheppard, while I appreciate the…ah, _camaraderie_ that you have with your teammates, perhaps it would be wise of you not to put it on public display."

Sheppard looked confused until Woolsey gingerly pulled it off and handed it over. John took it, glanced at it, and hastily folded it and stuffed it in his pocket. "Sorry about that, so as I was saying…"

It didn't take him long to find Rodney and when he waved the picture in front of him the scientist looked suspiciously nonchalant. "Oh, you finally found it."

"When did you even take this?"

Rodney was a scientist and not a soldier and this was one of those cases where he didn't really have to think before selling out his teammate, "Ronon took it."

"Okay, but what the hell was it doing on my laptop?"

"We came to the conclusion that maybe if you knew that we knew then you and Teyla wouldn't try to keep hiding the fact that the two of you have been together for the past month kind of makes things awkward since you two don't seem to want anyone to know but Ronon and I already do so-"

"McKay?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing is going on between me and Teyla." He turned to go, but stopped as if in afterthought. "And McKay? Before you think about telling anyone or showing that picture to anyone else, you might want to keep in mind that there are some really great nature pictures online…with whales. One click is all it takes."

Rodney swallowed.

That night after the team had eaten dinner together and John and Teyla left the mess hall, Ronon stopped Rodney from getting up to get a second plate, "Hey, Sheppard called me to his quarters earlier to talk about the thing with the picture."

Rodney nervously leaned back in his seat. "I'm sorry that I might have accidentally let it slip that you were the one who took the picture but-"

"Doesn't matter, I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying about it anyways," Ronon grunted. "I was too busy noticing that it was taped to the wall above his desk."


	3. Chapter 3

Third and final part. Thank you for the reviews!

Disclaimer: don't own SGA, etc.

* * *

There was nothing particularly suspicious about John and Teyla going off in a puddle jumper together because Rodney just figured that Colonel Sheppard was flying her to the mainland to visit her people.

No, what he found suspicious was the glint of something reflecting light as they were gearing up the next day. "Wait, what is that?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

His teammates fell silent as they all began checking their boots and vests. "Where?" Teyla asked.

"On your hand," Rodney took her hand in his and inspected it. "Wow," was all he could manage.

"What?" Ronon asked, "It's a piece of jewelry."

But John's face had gone red and he had turned back to tightening his laces. Teyla withdrew her hand, "Was that really necessary, Rodney?"

"Yes!" He looked at Ronon, "That's not just any piece of jewelry. That. That is an engagement ring, meaning engaged to be married, as in someone hasn't been telling us everything, as in I would think that not only as your teammates but as your friends you could have told us. Instead you said 'oh no there's nothing going on between the two of us' because that certainly does not look like nothing."

John looked up. "Okay, I gave it to her and obviously she said yes. But," he glanced at Teyla, "We wanted to keep it quiet for a while."

Rodney raised his eyebrows, "Quiet. Your definition of quiet is a diamond engagement ring? A really expensive one, I might add."

"Yeah, well, I had Dave's help."

"Your brother that you barely ever talk to knew about this before we did? Does Woolsey know?" He knew that there weren't any real written rules when it came to dating on Atlantis but he could see how someone like Woolsey might see a sticky situation in the military commander of Atlantis dating someone under his command…and on his team.

"Yes, Woolsey knows."

Rodney and Ronon exchanged glances. "You told _Woolsey_ before you told us."

Teyla laid a hand on John's arm to quiet him. "Rodney, Ronon, we apologize for not telling you sooner. We were going to wait to be engaged, but…"

"But what?" Rodney asked.

It was while Rodney and John were trying to crawl out of a mud hole, while Teyla and Ronon stood back with smirks on their faces (they had warned them not to go that way), that John finally answered Rodney's question. "But we just couldn't wait any longer."

Ronon leaned down to haul Rodney out and Teyla gave John a hand. The scientist watched as John gently squeezed her shoulder before shouldering his weapon and telling them to get a move on and suddenly something that John had said to him clicked into place.

Most of the members of the Atlantis Expedition missed home. He had overheard some of the younger marines talking about places that they wanted to go, things that they wanted to do, hell, even he missed it sometimes. Rodney missed his Doritos stained couch, he missed being able to drive down the road to a Starbucks and have an endless supply of coffee at his fingertips, and he also missed having his sister a phone call away even if he never did get around to calling like he meant to. But he had never pegged John as that kind of guy. John was like one of those little potted cacti that could be moved from one spot to another with no fuss. Maybe it was hard for him to say goodbye to people, but not places.

So one night as they were drinking beers and tossing around a ping-pong ball from their lawn chairs, he had been surprised by John's answer when he asked the Colonel if he ever missed Earth. If, provided he had a choice in the matter, he ever wanted to go back and just _stay _there.

"Sometimes," John said.

"Really?" Rodney had asked, surprised. "What do you miss about it?"

John had tossed the ball up and down as he mused. "Some things are easier on Earth," was all he said.

At the time Rodney had thought that he had been referring to not having to worry about the Wraith. As they trekked through the jungle he watched as John didn't glance back at Teyla, not once. Rodney remembered that hot, sticky, day on Earth when John and Teyla had walked hand in hand. John's sentiment had nothing to do with alien threats.


End file.
